Unite Against Racism Street Mural, Greenville, NC
- Creator
- Kevon Gainer, Randall Leach, Aliyah Bonnette, Asha Taylor, Brianna Hemby, Brittany Hemby, Cameron Johnson, Deborah Sheppard, Jacinda Aytch, Jasmine Hemby, Jeremy Richardson, Jermaine McNair, Kevin Gonzalez, Kidd Graves, Luis Federico, Maria Young, Marlon Westray, Megan Ellison, Nataly Monter, Paula Jordan-Mayo, Rakia Jackson, Raymond Henderson, Steph Alexander, and Teriarrio Faulk
- Title
- Unite Against Racism Street Mural, Greenville, NC
- Coverage
- 35.615329, -77.372207
- Description
- "Unite Against Racism" is painted on the pavement. Each letter on the mural has its own theme with words like ‘Power to the People’ and ‘Black Votes Matter’ painted inside.
- Source
This street mural is in Greenville, North Carolina, and was created on December 13th, 2020, after months of planning. It says “Unite Against Racism” in large capital letters across West First Street, next to the Town Common Park. Each letter is a different color and contains different images. Examples of phrases inside the letters are “Power to the People” and “Black Votes Matter”. The mural is two traffic lanes tall. The street was closed for 24 hours after the mural was completed to allow the public to safely view it. Cars were able to drive over the mural after that period.
This mural was sanctioned. The idea for the mural was brought to the city council in June 2020 but wasn’t approved until November 9th, 2020. Originally, the artists wanted the mural to say, “Black Lives Do Matter,” but the council approved “Unite Against Racism” instead. This mural was created by 24 different artists and volunteers. Local high school art teacher Randall Leach was one of the leaders of the project. He says “This is not the end. It’s not the end. This is what we can do now. We need to come to the table and have conversations to discuss what we can do to make this place better for all people.”
This mural was paved over starting on April 12, 2021. This construction was said to be planned prior to the creation of the mural. A city council member said that this mural is only temporary, much like other murals across the state and country similar to this one. Although this mural may have been temporary, it had a large impact on the community.
Sources:
https://www.witn.com/2020/12/19/unite-against-racism-mural-in-greenville-ready-for-viewing/
https://www.wnct.com/local-news/greenville/unite-against-racism-mural-in-uptown-greenville/
https://greenvillenc.gov/Home/Components/News/News/1694/66
https://www.newsobserver.com/news/state/north-carolina/article247095722.html
http://www.piratemedia1.com/theeastcarolinian/article_e6aa9be4-9b92-11eb-82f9-7b392cb2abda.html
Researched by the Urban Art Mapping Team
Image URL
News Coverage by WITN, WNCT, Greenville North Carolina, and The News Observer- Rights
- Creators: Kevon Gainer, Randall Leach, Aliyah Bonnette, Asha Taylor, Brianna Hemby, Brittany Hemby, Cameron Johnson, Deborah Sheppard, Jacinda Aytch, Jasmine Hemby, Jeremy Richardson, Jermaine McNair, Kevin Gonzalez, Kidd Graves, Luis Federico, Maria Young, Marlon Westray, Megan Ellison, Nataly Monter, Paula Jordan-Mayo, Rakia Jackson, Raymond Henderson, Steph Alexander, and Teriarrio Faulk
Photographer: City of Greenville
Images are collected in this archive for educational purposes and are not intended for commercial use. Reproduction rights for all images remain with the creators/photographers when we are able to identify them.
We seek to identify artistic creators when they want to be identified, and we respect their rights to protect their identity should they choose to remain anonymous. Please contact us if you are the creator of work in this archive and you wish to be identified or if you wish for your work to be removed from the archive. - Publisher
- Urban Art Mapping Research Project
- Date
- 2020-12-13
- Contributor
- LA
- Identifier
- UAM-GF_3521
- Spatial Coverage
- Located on West First Street near the Town Common park
- Is Referenced By
- Stephen Larrick, Black Lives Matter Street Mural Census
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